Activities of Agnieszka KOZŁOWSKA related to 2016/2012(INI)
Reports (1)
REPORT on the application of Council Directive 2004/113/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services PDF (363 KB) DOC (82 KB)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 19 of January 2016 on external factors that represent hurdles to European female entrepreneurship1a, 1a. P8-TA(2016)0007
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas the Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that: “In all its activities, the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women”;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the greater difficulty for female entrepreneurs in accessing financing could in part be related to a difficulty in building up sufficient credit history and managerial experience;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the Member States have the legislative competence to safeguarded equal treatment of women and men in the areas of goods and services which fall outside of the remit of the Directive;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the Directive is applicable to all goods and services provided against remuneration, within the meaning of Article 57 TFEU and according to the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU); whereas remuneration must not necessarily be provided by those for whom the service is performed and it can be provided in a form of an indirect payment which does not necessarily involve the service recipient;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas in the Test-Achats ruling, the CJEU concluded that Article 5(2) of the Directive works against the achievement of the objective of equal treatment between men and women; whereas that provision was considered to be invalid with effect from 21 December 2012 and as a result the unisex premiums and benefits are mandatory in all Member States;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas the lack of public knowledge and awareness of the Directive and its provisions may result in a lower number of gender discrimination claims;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas the work of the European Network of Equality Bodies is crucial for enhancing implementation of equal treatment legislation as well as coordinating the cooperation and sharing of best practices between national equality bodies accords the EU;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the application of the Directive is not uniform across the Member States and that despite progress achieved in this area there are still challenges and gaps in the implementation thereof that need to be addressed in some Member States and across certain sectors; calls on the Commission to prioritise addressing any remaining gaps in the implementation in their dialogue with the Member States;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note that while the Commission report states that no specific difficulties have been signalled in implementing several provisions of the Directive, this statement is based on very few cases of discrimination reported, and that overall there is very limited information and that data collection in this area varies considerably at Member State level; calls on the Members States, the Commission and the relevant stakeholders to raise the awareness about the provisions of the Directive to enhance the perceived importance of equal treatment in the field of goods and services;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that only some Member States reported the existence of specific provisions on positive action; calls on the Member States to better integrate and promote provisions on positive action which is based on a legitimate aim and strives to prevent or compensate gender- based inequalities, as outlined in the Directive;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
The insurance and financial sectors
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines thatHighlights that while the Directive expressly prohibits the use of pregnancy and maternity as a way to differentiate in the calculation of premiums and benefits for the purposes of insurance and related financial services, a greater effort needs to be made to protect the rights of pregnant women in this field and safeguard them against unqualified pregnancy-related costs, as well as to raisinge awareness among service providers as to the special protection afforded to pregnant women; in particular there is a need to ensure that transitional periods in different types of insurance, especially medical insurance, do not interfere with the rights of pregnant women to enjoy equal treatment throughout the period of pregnancy;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls for a holistic approach to female entrepreneurship, aimed at encouraging and supporting women in building a career in entrepreneurship, facilitating access to finance and business opportunities, and creating an environment enabling women to realise their potential and become successful entrepreneurs by ensuring, inter alia, the reconciliation of professional and personal life, access to childcare facilities, and tailor-made training;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Welcomes the equalising effect on pensions of the Test-Achats ruling which prohibited sex-based actuarial factors in insurance contracts and made unisex premiums and benefits mandatory in private insurance schemes, including pensions; notes that while this ruling applies only to the private schemes, the unisex rule in pensions constitutes a good practice in terms of reducing the gender pension gap;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Calls on Member States’ governments to collaborate with the financial sector regarding their obligation to ensure equality between men and women in access to capital for freelancers and SMEs; invites them to explore the possibilities of introducing gender equality into their reporting structures on the attribution of loans, into the tailoring of their risk profiles, investment mandates and staff structures, and into financial products and the advertising thereof;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Welcomes the decision of some Member States to apply the unisex rule also to their occupational pension schemes in order to ensure equality between women and men in all areas of pension calculation; encourages other Member States to consider following suit, if appropriate;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission and Member States to facilitate the exchange of best practices in this area; calls for focusing on those preventive measures which are consistent with the principle of equality between women and men, as recommended for example in the Istanbul Convention, and which are not limiting to women’s liberties as well as concentrate primarily on addressing potential perpetrators rather than modifying behaviour of women as potential victims;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes that the Istanbul Convention states that “the realisation of de jure and de facto equality between women and men is a key element in the prevention of violence against women” and, therefore, calls on the Member States and the Commission to follow this comprehensive approach in their policy aimed at eradicating violence against women, including the implementation of the anti- harassment provisions outlined in the Directive;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Highlights that equal treatment of both mothers and fathers with small children in the access and use of services is crucial for gender equality in general as it promotes equal and shared responsibility for childcare between women and men; calls therefore on the Member States to raise awareness among the service providers about the need for equal facilities for both parents available within their premises;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Notes that integrating the gender- sensitive perspective into the early stages of planning and structuring of the means of transport and other public spaces constitutes a good and cost-efficient practice for eradicating physical barriers which undermine equal access for parents and carers of small children;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Notes that harassment poses a particular challenge for gender equality in the area of collaborative economy services; highlights that whilst the "zero- tolerance" policy towards harassment adopted by many platforms constitutes a good practice to be further strengthened in the sector, there is a need for the platforms concerned to prioritise prevention of harassment as well as to consider creating clear procedures for reporting abuse cases for users;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Notes that while the recently published Communication from the Commission on "European agenda for the collaborative economy" is a good starting step for promoting and regulating this sector effectively, in its further stages the Commission should integrate the principles of gender mainstreaming and reflect the regulations of the Directive to safeguard equal treatment of women and men and effectively prevent harassment in the services offered within the collaborative economy;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Encourages equality bodies and consumer protection organisations to both raise awareness about the limits and conditions for differential treatment among the service providers as well as to enhance awareness about the rights for equal treatment among service users, as it is often reported that users are not familiar with applicable provisions in the field of goods and services;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to enhance the cooperation with equality bodies and to monitor if the relevant provisions regarding their competences are met in all the Member States as well as to provide support to Member States in systematically identifying the main challenges and share best practices;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the equality bodies, potentially in cooperation with consumer protection organizations, to raise awareness about the provisions of the Directive among both service providers and users in order to boost the understanding of equal treatment in this field and reduce breaches of the Directive being left unreported;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Calls on the Commission to establish a public database of relevant legislation and case law regarding equal treatment between women and men as a means to raise awareness about the application of the legal provisions in this field;